A network without a switch is called a shared network because every node
on the network competes for a fraction of the total bandwidth. In a shared
network, data packets are randomly broadcasted to all stations until they
discover their intended destination. Consequently, considerable time and
bandwidth is wasted on data packets swimming along network lines before
they find their correct address. A switch, on the other hand, looks at the
address for each data packet and delivers it directly to the correct destination.
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Your EtherFast 10/100 Switch boosts your network performance several times
over, conserving your time, money and resources. The scalability of your
Switch, its full duplex data transfer and dedicated bandwidth all contribute to
maximizing efficiency in your Fast Ethernet network.
Your EtherFast 10/100 Switch’s auto-sensing feature gives you a key advan-
tage over other forms of networking by upgrading speed-critical network seg-
ments to 100Mbps while allowing existing 10BaseT networks to operate with
the Switch. Allowing 10BaseT and 100BaseTX hardware speeds to run
alongside each other eliminates the need to purchase new hardware, rewire
and reconfigure an entire site all at once. This scalability factor ensures that
Fast Ethernet will not fall obsolete to upgrades in speed standards and main-
tains use of all your old equipment until you decide to buy speedier replace-
ments.
Scalability allows you to budget for your networking needs over time.
Now networks can custom-run fast and slow segments at the same time for
different users and departments. Publishing, R&D, and accounting depart-
ments can enjoy 100Mbps transfer, while other corporate segments conserve
bandwidth by operating at slower, more economical 10Mbps speeds.
Switches also feature full-duplex data transfer, meaning that all computers
on the switch can “talk” to the switch at the same time. Plus, switches can
send and receive data simultaneously to all connections, whereas a hub can-
not. A hub simply works with one computer at a time and only sends or
receives data, since it cannot handle two way communication.
In addition to full duplex transfer, your 10/100 Workgroup Switch surges
your network with dedicated bandwidth to each node, devoting 100Mbps to
every device and multiplying your bandwidth for each added node. For
instance, if you connect sixteen computers to your EtherFast 10/100 Switch,
then each computer will get a dedicated bandwidth of 100Mbps at full duplex
transfer. If you run sixteen computers from a 100Mbps hub, then each com-
puter would only share a part of the 100Mbps bandwidth.
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10/100 Workgroup Switches
Instant EtherFast
®
Series
Switches versus Hubs
